If I am ever to look sidelong again
I shall need a pair of glasses with
little mirrors on them, and a bit of
extra cash, as the word on the street is
the current administration
is not long from taxing these sidelong
glances of ours. But then, I’m all
for tax evasion in some regards,
so tell me,
Do these glasses make me look
sophisticated or
silly or
what?
it seems to wrap around the parts
that would best help to get away
the throat
the legs
the wrists
and covered eyes
but careful to avoid the teeth
(people-bites can be pretty nasty)
And so
the chance of self-exorcising slip
but if you don’t owe no money
you don’t need no money
and the tentacles loosen
just enough to move a wrist
and an eye peeks out
and a slip
and that people bite is pretty nasty
But it screams from anger
not from pain
escape is all it tried to stop
and there you go
but now you’re leaving
all the other folks behind
Come in!
Come in!
It’s so good to see you
(and you are)?
Oh, yes, Carol’s son
(You don’t look like her,
but I’ll take your word).
So where do you live
(will i approve)?
Oh, do you know so and so
(the drunk!)?
No? Do you know so and so
(the bastard!)!
Now that’s too bad
(I guess you’re alright after all);
go get some pie before it’s all gone dear
(off to test someone else).
I can not fathom
Do you take short steps on your long walks?
How shallowly do you cut
when you cut the hairs on your scalp?
What of the grass out back?
or the weeds?
I scarcely hear a word in tune
but I’ve brought with, a pitchfork,
though perhaps better a tuning-pipe,
but that doesn’t make sense either
Walk faster
if dodge were a place you
would go when you die
then i would be running for
my life as i desperately flee
this place of horrible pain
suffering and misery.
Summer sun and such searing
all the pavement beneath my feet
and the tops of my feet additionally
and all I smell is smoke and fire
and charcoal briquettes
and ooh, that smells oh so good
and yeah, I think I’ll have one
of those, but what you want to
charge is
un
be
leave
a
bull
i see you in your little town
with those big bright eyes
and all the people are dumb
you got ink on your green shirt
just like me.
I can taste the
apple juice
mixing with the sulfur
in the back of my throat
and it’s sweet enough,
I’m thinking,
for most of us to swallow down
But I’ve traveled
very recently.
I headed North, or
North-West, for those
that crave the particulars,
and tried to come to
settle in a place that’s
at least a bit more
sulfur-free
but alas,
the sulfur
is always free,
and that’s probably
the problem
to start with
to emerge in rebirth
stepping into the light
i’ve purchased sun glasses
for fear of shock and i hope
the doctor has the clarity
of mind to give me a good
slap on the back to ensure
i continue breathing
i shouldn’t expect you to be like me
my pretty plastic bird
and when i took you to the fare
you said that life’s not fair
when i go home at night
and i think about it
i know i only want the truth
and that’s all i want from you
and when i realize
looking into your eyes
that they are plastic beads
i wish that you could see
i guess that i’m a mess
and i get left like that
cuz you can’t tell
i wish you’d go to hell
i lose my appetite
i’d rather be lonely
cuz it’s not fucking cool
being such a fool.
The sweat that covers
forces truth:
You live,
You breathe,
You bleed,
and now you’re burning.
At least you’re burning alive.
The mosquitoes do their very best
to cover every screaming inch and
you will never win against their numbers
and tenacity. Especially the tenacity.
It is very much a failure, but one that
is, on all counts, to be expected.
If I could stop the insects I would,
but citronella is just a brand name.
They haven’t written the superpower out yet.
Not that there is an alternative, even though there are many
Who’s bittersweetness strikes faster, stays longer;
Not that I need to stay up for him, as hours drip
Into fat puddles of late night tv and limbs that shift
Like a seabed under their blankets. His charm isn’t
Worth sacrificing the house-wine for, initially.
If I help him along a bit, maybe?
Drop a sugar-cube, add some cream or milk.
Give the Atlantic back its icebergs. Yet not that
He’d notice: Curse the lactose intolerant!
There comes a time, when everything warm in
This world, gets lost in the Arctic. There comes a
Time, when the cat by the fire duly notes its place.
And despite knowing this, I drink a little faster;
And I, having tasted what I have tasted
With eyes that have known to stay open,
To the richest and the boldest, I am still a tourist
To be seen in coffee-shops by a clearer lens.
While I am this slow sipper in this
Place of eternal happy-hour: every new mouthful
Is a new land to see.
Kraus! Oh Schnitzler and Toberg;
Come on, oh come home with me.
I am reaching
I have not touched
stretching fingers
only aiming for the tip
but now my thumb is in your mouth
and what the fuck is up with that?
and I can feel you pulsing
breathing
everything an open
book-on-tape, and now
the little magnetic ribbon
is spooling, spurred on by the
fast-forward button on my
ancient (really?) cassette deck.
Show me all your glories
and I’ll pick them apart by way
of not giving a shit.
Though it probably means I love you.
tonight
i gathered with what are soon to be old friends
(i’m moving in 10 days you know) and we sang
and sang something like karaoke
for four hours till our voices grew horse
then settled for dinner.
“rabbits head”
we picked because hey.
what the hell are old friends for if not
a good rabbits head once in a while.
i suckled at the brain. it tasted like you’d think
(spongy, salty, spicy, awkwardly disgusting and not
just in principle) and i knew my vegetarian
friend there with us
would appreciate and remember this as our last
meal together
when i lived here.
ate this. sang that. played with you and wished you
farewell.
drowning is the loneliest as
even sound can’t get to you
water floods your body
thoughts flood your mind
thoughts of your friend’s faces
rapt in moments of sheer ecstasy
but not saving you
like the particles moving
a r o u n d your outstretched arms
and when you first go down
you know
and your heart
it knows
and it matches the bpm of
all of the saddest songs
a slow shuffle for the
last dance
you’re a wallflower at
this slow dance
but the song never resolves
and you’re last thoughts
are cliche
like that song candle in
the wind, or whatever
you feel like one of those
candles, and you feel the
flicker and understand it
like you couldn’t before
when the understanding comes…
well
you know what happens then,
even now you do
like when you had nothing to
do so you just fell asleep.
everywhere i look i see snakes
and i just
can’t
stop
talking
about it
how could one, when all one
has to see is snakes? snakes
by the dozens, hissing and
slithering in all different
colors and sizes.
i try and kill them, these
horrid
snakes
but
there are just too many,
and they wont even kill me,
they just hiss
and slither
and i sit in a big wide green
beautiful field with all of
the beauty of space covered
in fucking snakes and cry.
You leave me alone in your apartment,
I feel dented, swindled, and hanged up like the abstract painting on your wall.
I wrap your white bed sheet around my neck , it holds better than your words… when you pretend to see Me as larger than life; you’re so snug ego-boosting me, and like an ailing puppy I need you.
I fidget from wall to wall wearing your leather shoes and your tshirt, big enough to get lost in and forget that I am who I hate the most…
I’m afraid of mediocrity
To settle for what’s less
I give up on potential greatness
Instead of striving for the best
Thoughts weigh in me with unrest
Believing I should strive for better
Rather than just striving for this jest
To rise above, discover true success?
But with contempt I’m told
I shouldn’t make a mess
“Don’t be such a wrench in the works.”
And so, with a sigh, I digress
I feel as though I’m listing
I’m sure I must seem that way
out of sorts and all
paper hat on my head
nothing written on my hands
no company to remember me
but here I am, listing
and I’ll list my way back out to sea
i have a cat and home and
she tickles my heart
(i don’t have a whining
air conditioner in my head)
i just got my rations and
i can smile through the
smog and my family
keeps me grounded
as they will last forever.
my dad teaches me how
to
hunt the hunt in any
season
and he guts it all for me
and he does all the
driving
and one day i’ll get
married, as a good
man is hard to find;
one to bring into your
family, as they will
last forever.
my name’s emerald,
and my smile out-shines
this taco bell™.
I’ve convinced myself that freedom means giving the chain some slack.
I can wave my arms and aside from the metallic clanging
And bruised throbbing in my wrists I can breathe in the facade of liberation.
Lying atop the glinting cuffs,
Concealing them from sight,
Kicking their snaking coils under my cot,
Close my eyes, imagine they don’t exist—
But then I watch my crimes,
Projected in slow motion and muted colors in the Mind’s Eye theater.
If only. If only. If only.
Yet as long as I elevate a weighted head, squint passed the bars and see,
That’s where freedom is, than maybe I’m there?
I’m existential—freedom is relative, it’s all in my head.
If I wanted to I could dissolve these tarnished shackles.
Then why are they still there? Why am I still here?
I’m lying.
I couldn’t.
But you can.
Bonds thrust taut like Sampson between pillars I bawl for mercy—
Forgive me.
Amidst primordial groans, through tear blurred eyes—
Forgive me.
Bubbling incoherent tongues of penitence—
Forgive me.
A silhouette, a chiming jingle, the turnkey’s footsteps—
You heard.
With an ancient bleat, sealed so long, the cell door pivots open.
Fetters melt to briny crimson puddles.
The jailer, distantly departing, turns.
Holding his hands skyward like lightning rods
Colliding thunder reverberates as the prison walls collapse.
The spirit charged air pours a torrent of watts instead of raindrops
Surging currents rise, sibilating to deafening volume.
Rising. Rising. Rising Louder. LOUDER!
Vanishing—silence.
A charcoal sky. A deserted hill.
A torn veil. A whispered voice—
It is finished.
having finally given up it all,
he was now free to observe
theworldmanwomanhumanity,
and with a sad smile,
partially hidden,
partially shown,
he saw the mystery,
he saw the reality,
he saw the truth
and the way that everyone
pretended
to be happy,
to be loved,
to love,
while secretly disseminating
their truly hidden
veiled misery.
the deed finally done,
he smiled uncontrollably
as the last stone was placed,
as his work finally finished,
as his old life was buried
along with the body,
that once was his .
all feeling left like falling rain
you’re in my bed i can’t complain
the thoughts in head i can’t explain
i want you here for me to drain
i want you here to cause some pain
and light the fire with the flame
you hand me dice to play a game
i’m bad at keeping myself trained
it is ingrained, i go insane
your car is still parked outside.
I disregard the sunlight on most occasions
I hope for my sake I am not a fool,
yet I persist to act foolish
These are not wounds,
simply unplugged outlets.
Let the children watch, so just maybe,
they can learn something.
i got out of bed today
i was walking jello
i remember feeling close to…
i remember the sun
i look like i feel, walking
around in radiant suburban
sunlight,
a demon in a christmas
parade.
I called up all my family
I called up all my friends to see
if all the little animals had
really taken off tonight
and much to my surprise, it seemed
that every cirtter inside three
square miels had grown wings
and taken flight
Well I’ve never been a betting man
and never made much money hoping
other people’s words were untrue
but I have made out to gamble some
and you can bet I’m probably done
‘cuz pigs were surely flying
after I made that bet with you
